Sophomore Darius Hall scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the Mills Comets overcame a five-point deficit in the final quarter to knock off host Little Rock Fair 56-51 in a key 5A-Central game Tuesday night.
Mills (13-4, 6-1) survived a 27-point effort by Fair junior guard Jerrick Cole to win its fourth consecutive game.
"What we did well was defend," Mills Coach Raymond Cooper said. "There were times with our offense where I wanted to close my eyes and not watch. But our guys stuck to the game plan, because they have two guys who can really shoot the ball well."
Fair (12-8, 4-3) held a 43-38 advantage when Cole knocked down his sixth three-pointer of the game with 7:10 to play, but the War Eagles did not hit another field goal until the 1:31 mark. By then, Mills led 51-47.
The War Eagles hit only 2 of 10 attempts from the floor in the fourth quarter and lost guard Nick Jones to a lower left leg injury late in the game. Fair Coach Charlie Johnson said Jones may have suffered a hairline fracture to his tibia.
"A loss, an injury. It was bad news all the way around," Johnson said.
Cole scored 19 of his points in the first half and kept the War Eagles in the game. Mills led 29-27 at the half, but the Comets went the final 5:17 of the third quarter without scoring. Fair scored the final 12 points of the third quarter and led 40-35.
Sophomores Jereme Allen and Jeremiah Toney added 10 points each for Mills. Senior Cameron Ricks scored all seven of his points in the game's final 3:42, including a 5-of-6 effort from the free-throw line. Mills enjoyed a 35-23 rebounding advantage, including an 11-1 edge in the fourth quarter.
"That was large for us because their two big [men] were in foul trouble," Cooper said. "We had a little height advantage."
"There were a lot of fouls called," Johnson said. "They shot 34 free throws and we shot 14, and they were playing man-to-man. I can't explain that."
MILLS (56)
Easter 1 0-0 2, Ricks 1 5-6 7, Curne 0 0-0 0, Hall 3 5-9 11, Peters 0 0-0 0, Allen 2 4-4 10, Davis 1 4-6 7, Ware 1 0-2 2, Toney 4 2-2 10, K. Jones 2 3-5 7. Totals 15 23-34 56.
FAIR (51)
N. Jones 3 3-3 9, Cole 9 3-4 27, Bryant 1 1-1 3, K. Bankston 0 0-0 0, B. Smith 0 0-0 0, Gilbert 0 2-2 2, Crooms 0 0-0 0, D. Jones 0 2-2 2, B. Bankston 4 0-1 8, Sykes 0 1-1 1, C. Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 11-14 51.
Mills;16 13 6 21 -- 56
Fair;12 15 13 11 -- 51
Three-point goals -- Mills 3 (Allen 2, Davis). Fair 6 (Cole 6). Team fouls -- Mills 19, Fair 24. Fouled out -- B. Smith, K. Bankston.
Sports on 01/28/2015